Weight lifters and other individuals who exercise using weights often practice what is called a bench press. The individual so engated lies flat on a bench, grasps a bar having weights at each end and first extends his arms straight upward to hold the weighted bar above his chest and then lowers the bar until it rests upon his chest. In this exercise the individual's wrists extend at right angles to the bar.
In order to exercise certain additional muscles, this exercise can be varied by modifying it into a wide grip bench press. In this modification, the user spreads his arms outward so that the separation of the hands is increased and the wrists are no longer disposed at right angles to the bar but rather the center line of each wrist intersects the bar at an acute angle. In the bench press, the arms are disposed at right angles to the shoulder. In the wide bench press the arms extend outward beyond the shoulder. Under these conditions, when the bar is raised, the wrists are subject to very severe strain and the weights on the bar must be reduced as compared to the weights used during a bench press wherein the strain is more upon the arms and less upon the wrists.
In this invention, the bar geometry is changed in such manner that the user can perform wide grip bench presses while the wrists are disposed at right angles to the portions of the bar held in the hands. This arrangement greatly reduces the wrist strain and enables the user to perform wide grip bench presses with much heavier weights and the desired muscle exercise is greatly enhanced.